


Wheelchair

by LuckyStarship, MikeWritesThings (orphan_account)



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternative Title: The Story Where A Bunch Of Minor Characters Get Screentime, Anko Family (Hetalia), But somehow I was drunk, Humor, I Was Drunk When I Wrote This, I don't even drink, I'm not even of age, Like 'wait there were feels here I didn't even notice', Like very minor, M/M, Prussia is still obsessed with toilets, References to Shakespeare, This is supposed to be funny ok, Wheelchairs, Yaoi, Yeah I know I'm a loser, even in this au, minor feels, probably, wheelchair au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-05-30 21:19:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6441214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuckyStarship/pseuds/LuckyStarship, https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/MikeWritesThings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emil Steilsson has been in a wheelchair nearly all his life, and has been homeschooled due to this. However, with his parents having passed on and his brother wishing to continue his education, Emil now begins his first year of high school.</p><p>Bullies, scary girls, cares-way-too-much-Lukas and a sassy Cantonese boy are what awaits him.</p><p>Now, Leon Wang is giving him the time of his life, being his first ever--should he say it?--friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

You would think Emil Steilsson would be bitter over the fact that he’s been stuck inside a wheelchair for most of his life,  but he hardly has any memories of walking, so he has nothing to complain about. This wasn’t necessarily a happy thing to think about, but it didn’t seem to bother him anyways. Still, seeing pictures of him as a tiny baby, a young toddler waddling around on two working legs made him feel a bit funny, as he was so used to the safety of his wheelchair.

To make things even worse, he had emphysema, which made it difficult for him to breathe. He had AAT deficiency, which contributed to it--but it wasn’t so bad. Sometimes he was in the need of an inhaler when outside, but other than that, his life went on smoothly.

His house was wheelchair-friendly--he could roll over to the top of the staircase (there were no bedrooms on the first floor) and lower himself into the electronic wheelchair installed onto the staircase. Unfortunately, Emil has (and always will be) rather prideful, so instead of getting onto some weird new electronic installation to go up and down, he’ll settle on crawling.

It irked his brother the first few times, but after a while, it was amusing.

“Come on,” Lukas said as he watched Emil slowly lower himself down, step by step, “We don’t have all day.”

“Yes I do,” Emil said, hooking his elbows on the edge of the step in front of him and dragging himself forward, “I don’t want to go to school.”

“You have to.”   
“No.”

“Why can’t I just continue being homeschooled?”

“Because mom and dad aren’t here to school you anymore,” Lukas responded curtly, taking one step back every time Emil lowered himself onto a stair, “And you need to meet people, Emil.”

“That’s great,” Emil stopped for a moment, giving a slight pant. At once, Lukas looked concerned.

“Do you need your inhaler?”

“No, I’m fine.” Emil grunted, hastily dragging himself down again. By the time he got to the bottom of the steps, Lukas was in a serious rush, so he lifted Emil by his underarms into his wheelchair.

“Come on, bro.” Lukas’s hands reached out as if to push Emil, but he retracted them quickly to his side. Thankfully, Emil didn’t see this.

The steps had been replaced with a ramp so his wheelchair could roll easily down it, though sometimes Emil was going a bit faster than he should be and he would accidentally hit the gate.

Today was one of those days.

“Careful, Speed Racer,” Lukas joked lightly, watching Emil kick the gate open. However, before he could get himself entirely through it, the gate closed on his wheel. Lukas had to open it for him again.

The car ride to the high school was rather uneventful, except for the usual fight at the beginning of the car trip.

“Fall Out Boy.”

“No. Imagine Dragons.”

“Fall Out Boy.”

“Imagine Dragons.”

“Fall Out Boy.”

“Imaginary Dragons.

“Boys Falling Out.”

They glared at each other for a second. Then Lukas said,

“Whatever the iPod decides.”

“No cheating!” Emil jabbed his finger at his brother’s face. Lukas picked shuffled, and they both closed their eyes and waited with bated breath for the song to play.

There was a pause….

_ “I’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world-” _

Lukas’s finger smashed the ‘shuffle’ button once again, and instead, the familiar violin of an Alexander Rybak song was heard.

“I guess nobody wins this round,” Lukas huffed, “Again.”

“It’s like the universe doesn’t want me to listen to My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark,” Emil sighed.

“That song is so overrated.”

“Yeah, and Imagine Dragons has like, one song. Radioactive.”

“Excuse you, it has--”

“The only one I ever hear is Radioactive. They might as well have _ one song _ .”

Lukas refused to talk to Emil for the rest of the ten minute drive.

When they finally arrived at the brownstone building, Emil felt a strong feeling of pressure build up in his chest that had nothing to do with his breathing problems, and more like to do with nerves. The music faded out and the beginnings of a new song started, but Emil hardly heard it. He stared at the seemingly menacing building set against the bleak, cloudy sky, and felt his heart thump. His first day of school in nearly five years. Today, he was fifteen, and today, he was a freshman.

But before Lukas could say anything, before Emil could do anything like pretend to vomit to put off going to hel--school for another day, a face was smashed against the window.

Emil and Lukas jumped a little in their seats as a familiar face grinned at them from the driver side window, an excitable and happy one.

“LUKAS!” Matthias shouted, his voice clearly heard even through the thick glass, “And--Awe, is that Emil? HEY GUYS!”

“Oh god, the cancer is here,” Lukas groaned, before rolling down his window, successfully unsticking Matthias’s face from it. At once, the tall teen leaned inside the car, face split into a wide grin.

“Oh, it’s so good to see Emil out of the house and actually in public!” Matthias smiled, bright eyes twinkling, “Ya ready for some human interaction, Ice Ice?”

Emil wished he had one of his textbooks to chuck it at the Dane’s head.

“No, I’m not ready to face on of the Earth’s worst creations,” Emil shuddered, “And stop calling me that.”

“Never,” Matthias’s grin looked a bit evil now, “Never gonna let you forget it.”

“I was twelve!”

“You were snazzy as fuck.”

Emil felt his ears redden, but luckily, Lukas came to his rescue.

“Don’t you have a certain Dutch druggie to harass?” Lukas asked, casting a glare to Matthias. Matthias blinked before laughing.

“Oh yeah…Lars still owes me!”

And with that, he jogged away. Emil closed his mouth, which had hung open.

“Drug addict? Is he...Is he into drugs, now?”

“No, just friends with a few questionable people,” Lukas said, turning off the car engine, “Lars isn’t really a druggie. He had weed once and has never done it again...To our knowledge. But the nickname has stuck.”

“Oh,” Emil suddenly felt extremely overwhelmed by the largeness of the school and the amount of students milling around it, “I might be sick.”

“No you’re not.” 

They waited a couple of seconds before Lukas gave a groan.

“Junior year...One more year of being here. One more year.”

“At least Triangle Hair Man won’t be around next year,” Emil said half-heartedly, but even he knew that Lukas didn’t truly dislike the Dane. Sure, his hair was eccentric and he had a piercing and wore strange ‘hipster’ things (like the checkered bracelet and sometimes the huge hipster glasses) and he was loud and obnoxious and he made friends with weird people. But Emil knew Lukas really did care a lot about him.

Speaking of the devil….

“Lars says he doesn’t have my money,” Matthias pouted as he seemingly appeared out of thin air behind Lukas. Lukas gave a roll of his eyes before saying,

“Okay.”

The inside of the school was much less intimidating than the outside. Drawings and colorful posters hung everywhere, especially posters that had various anti-bullying messages. Emil felt rather discouraged by this--it was certainly a bad sign if there were so many anti-bully messages, which meant that bullying must be a big thing here…

“You’re going to love it here, Ice--Er, Emil,” Matthias said, noticing the look on his face and his own face softening a bit, “There’s a hella lot of clubs, and there aren’t many bullies around.”

Emil cast a doubtful look to the many posters, his fingers nervously combing through his silvery blond hair. Lukas placed his hands on Emil’s shoulders, leaning over the back of his wheelchair, long, narrow fingers squeezing his shoulders tightly.

“It’s all right, brother,” Lukas said in a low, yet flat voice, “You can always come find me if you need help.”

As if. While Emil appreciated it and all, he still had some pride, damn it! First day of school in years...Couldn’t be that bad, could it?

“Or you could ask your guide for help,” Lukas straightened up, his voice a little brisk as they approached the principal’s office, “She’s--er--nice.”

“Okay…” Emil said, not really liking the slight hesitation in his brother’s voice. Inside the (very small, very cramped) office, there was a girl wearing the strangest assortment of clothing Emil had ever seen. She probably didn’t even know what the word fashion  _ meant _ . However, she looked so intimidating and so tall (even though she barely reached Lukas’s chin)  that he didn’t really care what she wore.

“Hello, Natalia,” Lukas said, giving her a small wave. Furious blue eyes shot towards him and Emil almost swore he saw his brother gulp nervously. His brother, who showed nearly no emotion, was scared of this girl. 

The horror.

“Nat!” Matthias rushed forward and gave her a sort of hug that just involved his hands on her shoulders forcing her torso into his chest, her back rigid. Her hands flew up to his stomach and she pushed him away, sending him back into the desk uncomfortably. Emil felt as if he was taking up the most room in the small space with this suddenly huge wheelchair.

“This your brother?” She turned to face him, and at once Emil’s hands jumped to the armrests of his chair, leaning back in it as if to get as far away from her. Gosh darn, she was so fucking scary! 

He couldn’t even explain why. For god’s sake, she had a ‘Save The Whales’ sticker on her binder (this might have been ironic) and she was literally wearing a big black bow and a blue cardigan. But her eyes made her chilling.

“I. Am. Emil. I. Am. Fifteen. I. Am. In. A. Wheelchair.” His voice came out like a robot’s, and he bit his tongue to get himself to just shut up.

_ Do you want to live, Emil? Then shut the fuck up. Just stop it. Think of memes, Emil. You love memes, right? _

His eyes flickered around the room, before landing on Matthias’s shoes.

_ Daaaamn Dane, back at it again with the white vans? _

His brother suddenly sneezed. It was like a kitten.

_ Much cat. Very meow. Many purr. _

“--in the girl’s bathroom.”

“What?” Emil’s eyes flew back to meet Natalia’s to find she had straightened up, arms crossed. Natalia’s head turned to face Lukas, who immediately backed away.

“He’s almost as awkward as you,” She said thoughtfully, before turning her gaze back to Emil, who immediately straightened up.

“But if you turn your head this way,” She tilted her head, squinting her eyes, before saying, “Yeah, nope, still a piece of shit.”

Matthias was the only one who laughed, and very awkwardly at that.

Oh god. Is this school? Am I in a nightmare?

“Lighten up,” Natalia said, before walking over to the door and holding it open, “I’m supposed to take you to your class.”

“Why can’t Lukas be my guide?” Emil asked weakly. Natalia blinked.

“Because I’m not a student volunteer,” Lukas said quickly, not letting her answer, “And I’m a junior.”

“I am a freshman,” Natalia added.

“Oh,” Emil suddenly found his pants very interesting. They were a nice shade of blue. The next thing he knew, he was being pushed out the door. Giving a small squeak of surprise, Emil gave a small jolt.

That’s what he hated about being in his wheelchair. Feeling as if he were at the mercy of anyone. If they so wished, they could just give his wheelchair a light shove and send him rolling down the hallway.

And speaking of hallways…

The hallways, which had previously held about maybe seven students, now seemed to contain about fifty. People pressing in from all sides, and Emil felt suddenly as if every eye were on him, and those girls muttering across the hall were talking about him, and that everyone was thinking that he was a total loser.

“Come on,” Natalia said, and she pressed a hand on the back of his wheelchair and pushed him to the side of the hallway, as everyone seemed to be walking in the middle of it. Emil felt a little better about being with Natalia--at least he  _ knew _ she thought he was a loser.

The walls were painted a rather pleasant, periwinkle blue color, while the floor was a beige. Concentrating on the colors were rather comforting. Colors, in general, were comforting to Emil--he liked to associate them with things. 

“You’re quiet,” Natalia suddenly stopped, and that meant Emil had to stop to. He craned his head to the right to look up at her, and she was staring down the hall. He was going to answer her, but she suddenly pushed him forward again, and he resolved to silence.

All eyes seemed to be on him, and Emil nervously picked at the hem of his jacket. He would be the only one in a wheelchair, the one who’s never walked before. The one who was a weirdo without any friends.

And, all too suddenly, they were at the door to his first period of the day--art.

“Here you go,” Natalia said,  “I have to take you to all your classes, and since it’ll take you a longer time to get to them, I have to bring this note for the teacher’s to see to excuse you for your tardiness.”

She showed him a blue slip of paper.

“Oh,” Emil’s voice sounded small and far away.

“If you feel sick, just ask to be excused,” Natalia’s voice was flat, but her eyes were locked on his, hands still on his wheelchair.

“Okay.”

“If you want to contact Lukas or me, we’re both all the way down,” She nodded her head to the long, main hallway that ran from the classroom to the other side of the hall. up 289, Mr. Lorrence is Lukas. I’m just next to him, Mrs. Hinajosa.”

“Alright.”

“You can do this.”

“Sure.”

Natalia blinked, before letting go of his wheelchair, and walking away. Emil watched her go, before turning his head back to the art classroom. It seemed almost full.

Natalia was alright, Emil thought, and not really that scary and horrifying.

Now, to face the true horror-

Class.


	2. Two

Emil stood (or rather, sat) in front of the class as more students filed in, the teacher currently searching through his files for something or other (it had sounded as though he were speaking some sort of garbled form of English, which Emil assumed was only his nerves making him not hear things correctly). Finally, when the bell rang, and the class was assembled, the teacher called them all to attention.

“Hello, everyone,” He said, adjusting his thick glasses on his nose, shooting Emil a glance, “I’m here to welcome a new student. His name is Email Styles-san. Say hello to Email Styles-san.”

He was met with silence.

“Okay then. Sit wherever.” The teacher gave the back of Emil’s wheelchair (which Emil hated people doing) and Emil rolled himself to the very back of the classroom, the only desks where there were no chairs.

“Alright, class, today we are going to learn about…” The teacher squinted at his textbook, “The Minty Wars.”

“Don’t you mean the Winter Wars?” Someone asked.

“No, Miss Elizabeth Headvery, the textbook says the Minty Wars.” The teacher snapped, slamming the book down on his desk, “I know what I’m doing!”

The class erupted into silent giggles. Was this a normal thing?

“Alright, guys, now, in...Sometime during the friendzone war between Russia and America, Russia was also fighting Finland,” The teacher squinted at his textbook once again, before giving a sigh and banging his head on the board. “I give up. I’m too tired for this. Free class period.”

Apparently, this too was a normal thing, because everyone already had their cellphones in hand.

“And Justern Timeberlark! No! Spitballs!”

“Awwwww, man!”

Emil watched as the entire class either went onto a electronic device or began chatting to one another. When it became quite apparent the teacher had no plans on picking up on his lesson, he slid a book out from his bag and propped it up on the desk.

It was quite interesting, a book about both of the World Wars, and he was somewhere near the middle of it when he heard a small pop. Looking up, he found himself face-to-face with a girl with long, straggly brown hair and bright green eyes, and she was smacking about three sticks of gum at once.

“Hey,” She said cheerfully, examining the cover of Emil’s book, “I’m Elizabeth Headvery.”

Emil gave her a blank look.

“And you’re Email Styles-san.” The girl popped another bubble, “But for real, my name is Elizabeta Héderváry. What’s your name?”

“Uh…” Emil’s eyes darted around for a moment, feeling as if all eyes were on him, “Emil Steilsson.”

“Good to meet you, Emil Steilsson,” Elizabeta stuck out a hand and grinned, her face lighting up when he shook her hand. Emil glanced up at the teacher, curiosity scratching at the back of his head.

“What’s up with the teacher?”

“Oh, Mr. Barnes?” Elizabeta’s smacking gum seemed to be a thousand times louder than it really should be, “There’s actually conspiracy theories. Personally, I think he’s just too lazy to do his job.”

Emil shot a look to Mr. Barnes, who was currently cleaning his glasses with his shirt.

“Maybe,” He said with a shrug, as Mr. Barnes stuffed them back on his face, “He is pretty young. He looks only twenty.”

“He is twenty,” Elizabeta blew a very large buggle, and Emil had to resist the urge to pop it with the tip of his pencil. He was very surprised with how easy this conversation was flowing along, given that he had hardly ever conversed with another girl that wasn’t his mother, and had the social experience of a slug.  
“Never could have guessed,” Emil watched the young teacher lay his head down on his desk. Whether he was crying or sleeping, he couldn’t tell.

“Well, Email Styles-san, I’m going to get this over with,” Elizabeta flipped her hair over her shoulder, fixing Emil with an intense gaze, “How come you’re in a wheelchair? Unless you don’t want to talk about it.”

“No, I’m fine,” Emil heard himself say, as if he wasn’t really there. It didn’t bother him at all to talk about what had happened, because he himself hardly remember it--only garbled versions from his brother, who seemed to be the only one to talk about it with him.

“My parents took me and my brother to visit our grandfather. I was to stick with him at all times, but apparently, when we were out hunting, another hunter’s stray bullet hit me in the spine,” Emil glanced down at his toes. He wondered what it was like to tell them to wiggle. He’d tried, as he’d seen his brother do countless times whenever he was frustrated, but it seemed impossible. He didn’t know how to do it, or what he should be expecting. Just tell your toes to wiggle? Emil always pondered how he was able to do exactly everything so smoothly and easily without having to actually yell at his fingers to do them. Sure, he knew all about nerves and brain commands and stuff, but he still didn’t really get the concept of it all.

“Wow,” Elizabeta looked a little impressed, “How old were you?”

“About two and a half.”

Her eyebrows disappeared into her fringe, and her gum looked to be in danger of falling out.

“No way. And they took you hunting?”

Emil nodded, suddenly feeling as if he were being interrogated.

“Did they ever find out who accidentally shot you?” Elizabeta questioned, leaning over on her elbows.

“No,” Emil shook his head, “Lukas said he was the one who ran to call the police. My parents said he was crying like a baby.”

The sudden image of a six year old Lukas crying his head off popped up in his head, and he had to bite his bottom lip to keep himself from laughing.

“Lukas…” Elizabeta hummed, cocking her head to the side, “Lukas...Lukas Jared?”

“No, Lukas Bondevik,” Emil said.

“Never heard of him,” The brunette gave a shrug and grinned at Emil, “Hey, you’re cute.”

“Oh,” Emil suddenly felt his face redden, and it made perfect sense. She wasn’t really interested in him! She just thought he was cute! She just wanted to have sex with him! Instantly, he recoiled.

“Whoa,” Elizabeta looked a little alarmed, “Chillax, dude. I’m a lesbian.”

“Oh.” Emil wished he knew what else to say as he let his shoulders relax, “And I’m, uh...I’m new.”

“Well hello, New,” Elizabeta grinned around her gum, “And welcome to Hell.”

* * *

 

As soon as the bell rang, Emil awkwardly maneuvered around the desks, waving to Elizabeta, who was dashing off to her swim meet.

“Goodbye, Email,” Mr. Barnes said from his desk, which he had not once removed himself from.

“Um...Goodbye, Mr. Barnes and Noble,” Emil said quickly.

“What?”

But he was already outside the classroom, coming to a stop in front of Natalia. Her scarf had disappeared and she was balancing about seven books in her arms all at once.

“Your next classroom is math, which is about two doors down to your left,” She rushed, “You shouldn’t be late unless you’re a slow-ass little shit. I have to run. How was your class?”

“Mr. Barnes called me Email Styles-san,” Emil said blankly.

“And I’m Natalie Afrosky.”

Emil was about to ask her if she needed any help, when she suddenly turned and dashed away, barrelling through several students with a scream of “MOVE IT FUCKERS!”

Emil rolled down the hallway, thinking about Elizabeta. She had been very nice, if a little straightforward (and a bit obnoxious with her chewing gum) and he felt as if maybe the day wasn’t doomed after all. He could already feel himself relaxing, ever so slightly, about this school day. Nobody had really been rude to him yet. Perhaps maybe it wasn’t so bad, like Matthias said.

The math classroom as very obviously, a math classroom. There were equations all over the wall, and as Emil sat at the front of the classroom, he looked at each and every one of them.

When the bell rang, and the class settled down, the teacher stepped forward.

“Hey guys,” She said, placing a hand on the back of Emil’s wheelchair, “This is Emil. He’s going to be in our class from now on, so basically, don’t treat him like shit, m’kay?”

“Yes Miss Stargaard,” The class echoed, as Emil’s looked up at her in alarm at the use of such a word, “Go sit at the very back, next to Mr. Wang. I usually have things in alphabetical order, but I’ve got the chart memorized, and I don’t need to make any adjustments to it just yet.”

“Yes, Miss,” Emil said, and placed his hands on the wheels of his chair, rolling himself forward. He felt like all nineteen pairs of eyes were trained on him as he made his way to the back of the classroom, his wheelchair barely squeezing through the space between the desks and the wall.

At the very back of the classroom sat an Asian teen, bent over a pile of papers. Emil awkwardly dragged the chair out from the desk and instead rolled himself into the space. However, his wheelchair being lower than the other seats, his chest was barely level with the table.

“Help him, Wang.”

There was a squeak as a chair was pushed back, and he suddenly felt someone grab him from underneath his arms and lift him onto the table. The Asian boy carefully moved the wheelchair back, and dragged the normal chair into the spot where it used to be, sitting Emil down in it. Feeling his face burn with every pair of eyes trained on him, Miss Stargaard began the lesson, seemingly not caring that none of her class were paying attention.

Lowering his head onto his desk, Emil felt a little empty at the absence of his wheelchair, as he was so used to be inside it’s safety. He didn’t hear the teen’s voice until he was poked on the back of his head.

“Ow!” Emil looked up to see him smiling down at Emil. He had rather large eyebrows, like caterpillars before they turned into butterflies, brown hair that went just past his chin and golden-colored eyes.

“I’m Leon,” He said, “Leon Wang.”

“And I am Emil,” Emil said, muffling his voice into the crook of his elbow.

“Well, Emmy, pass me my pencil.”

“My name isn’t Emmy,” Emil said, removing his mouth from his elbow to make his voice clear, but sighed as he reached over and grabbed the pencil decorated with panda stickers.

Leon smiled at him again--Emil noticed he had a stick in his mouth, perhaps a lollipop one.

“Well, Emmy, welcome to Hell. Literally hell, everything here is like, sin.” Laughing at his own joke, Leon returned back to his paper. Emil gave a groan.

No. He had to be stuck with someone who made puns.

Great.

Just great.

But the teacher was passing out a quiz, and this actually made him groan out loud.

Just really fucking great.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok Im sorry I didnt really know how to make them meet so uh


	3. Three

Emil hardy paid any attention to Leon once he began his quiz. In fact, he sort of forgot that the Asian teen was even there, which wasn’t that hard, actually. Once Emil straightened up, he was a good four or five inches taller than him, and Leon remained completely silent the whole time, so it was very easy to forget the fact that he existed.

The quiz, Emil found, was surprisingly easy. Just some easy work, multiplying the simplified fractions of rectangular prisms...Easy….

Very soon, Emil found the bell ringing, and the chairs scraping backwards so quickly nearly turned him deaf. Leon was already halfway out the door, which left Emil alone, in a seat, with his wheelchair just out of reach. Giving a groan, Emil leaned over, extending his fingers in hopes of dragging it towards him. Just a couple inches….

A hand suddenly shoved the wheelchair towards him, and Emil grabbed it, bringing it close to his chair before sliding down onto it, albeit with some difficulty. Looking up to see who had helped him, he saw an older student with tufty brown hair and glasses.

“Hi!” He said, smiling, “Do you need any help?”

“No, I’m good…” Emil said, glancing down at his feet, and the friendly-looking teen  smiled again before saying,

“I’m Tai. If you need any help, I’d be glad to offer it.” 

“No, I’m okay, thank you though,” Emil said in a rush, before wheeling himself out of the classroom, only to bump directly into Natalia.

“Oh, this is going to be such a long day,” Natalia groaned, before grabbing hold of the handles on his wheelchair and pushing him down the hallway at a dangerously fast speed, “You dawdled and class starts in two minutes and the art building is all the way on the other side of the school.  Oh, a looong day.”

* * *

 

The rest of the school day passed in seemingly a blur. Emil hardly payed attention to what he was supposed to be doing, feeling all too uncomfortable with the stairs he was attracting with his wheelchair. Had these people never seen a wheelchair-bound person before?!

He met two other friendly faces as the day progressed: a Turkish senior named Sadik Adnan who he had met at lunch after failing to find a completely empty table (though he was loud, he was extremely friendly with Emil) and  Eliot Anderssen, a boy with light colored hair brushed over his eye who managed to explode his beaker in Chemistry. He was apparently the younger brother of Matthias’s friend Lars.

“Oh, I’ve heard of you,” Eliot said, grinning despite the fact that his face was blackened with soot and his hair stuck up in every angle, “Mathias is over at my house a lot with Lars, and he was talking about you and your brother nonstop. Hey, is he and your brother dating?”

“No,” Emil said dully, watching the bubbles in his test tube fizz.

“A shame, they’d make a very good couple,” Eliot said mournfully, before adding a few drops of sodium to his blue-colored water.

“Oh no, Eliot WAI-”

_ BOOM _ .

The final period of the day was English Literature, which Emil had to say he was looking forward to the least. He was never interested in those ‘old classics’ that his brother sometimes forced him to read, and he often threw them aside with disgust (particularly  _ Little Women _ and  _ The Great Gatsby _ ).

The teacher was an elderly woman whose name Emil didn’t remember, but the first thing she did was hand out small books to them, telling them to read Acts 1 and 2.  It was in this class that Emil was once again seated next to Leon Wang, though he did this out of choice. Hey, it was much better than sitting next to someone whom he hadn’t met before. That and the only two available seats were on either side of a tall, bulky-seeming blond named David, who had a sour look on his face. 

Emil flipped open the book, squinting at the stage directions before tossing it aside distastefully. Ugggh,  it was sooo boring.  The day had seemingly dragged on at a snail’s pace after third period, and he couldn’t wait to get home and act like the rest of the world was non existent.

“Aren’t you going to read that?” Leon suddenly asked, lollipop stick in mouth,  jabbing a finger at the discarded book.

“Uh, no,” Emil said, hands twitching slightly with the sudden urge to punch the desk. He wasn’t used to just sitting around all day learning pointless things (well, he sort of was, but still!) and it would take a long time before going to school every day felt normal. He suddenly felt heat behind his eyes, but he blinked them rapidly, refusing to cry on the first day of school. Oh, how embarrassing that would be.

“Why not, though? It’s, like, one of the classics.”

“I don't really like ‘the classics’,” Emil sighed, glancing towards the Asian, who was already scanning the pages of the first act.

“Why not, bro? They’re totally awesome,” Leon frowned, looking towards Emil with a deeply offended look on his face, “ _ A Midsummer Night’s Dream _ , Hamlet, they’re fucking rad.”

“Boring,” Emil shook his head, This is why I’m never going to read Shakespeare.”

The lollipop stick fell from Leon’s mouth, though Emil could hardly care. The day he would read a Shakespeare classic willingly was the day he’d willingly engage in a game of Monopoly with Lukas, and that was a promise.

The rest of the period passed quietly, as everybody was reading the assigned play, though when the bell rang, signifying the end of the day, there was a loud scraping sound as everybody pushed their chairs back in unison. The elderly teacher collected all their books, and Emil made sure everything was in his back before backing out of the classroom, unable to turn around due to crammed space. 

In the hallway, Lukas and Matthias were waiting for him.

“How was your first day of school, lil’ bro?” Lukas asked, crouching down so he was at eye-level with Emil. Any other person did this and Emil would choose to ignore them, but Lukas was the lone exception.

“Long,” Emil said truthfully, “Lukas, I think all your friends are stalking me.”

“Why?”

Emil recalled the countless juniors and seniors following him and Natalia in the hallways, and every time he turned around to look at them, they quickly dived out of sight--it had been amusing when a tall boy with straight blond hair and glasses dashed into the girl’s bathroom, only to be chased out by Elizabeta and another girl with long pigtails.

“No particular reason,” Emil shrugged, before he rolled down the hallway, having a vague memory of where the exit to the school was. Matthias and Lukas trailed behind, Matthias grinning like an idiot and making small talk. Lukas kept casting him suspicious looks, but Emil grinned. Oh, they were  _ so gay _ .

Once out at the car, with his wheelchair carefully folded and placed in the backseat, Emil in the front seat, listening to only half of Lukas and Matthias’s conversation. He was thinking about the school day, and the people he had met. Elizabeta was friendly, Tai seemed so too (though Emil only saw him twice throughout the whole day, the second time being at lunch) Sadik was loud but nice, Eliot was...Nice, but mildly strange? And Leon...Emil wasn’t sure what to make of him.

“So, what happened at your first day?” Lukas asked once the car was in motion.

“Nothing much,” Emil said, fiddling with his fingers, “I met a few people.”

“What are their names?”

“Elizabeta...I can’t say her last name...Er, Tai. I don’t know much about him at all, but he seemed pretty friendly.”

“Does he have brown hair that kind of sticks up everywhere? And glasses?”

“Yeah...How did you know?”

“I have orchestra with him. Anybody else?”

“Uh...A guy named Sadik Adnan-”

Lukas nearly crashed into the car in front of him, slamming on the brakes. Emil stared at his brother, wide-eyed.

“Are you okay?”

“Continue,” Lukas said forcefully, eyes trained on the road.

“Uh….Eliot Anderssen.”

“Not Lars’s brother?” 

“Yeah,” Emil stopped fiddling with his fingers, trying to remember if there was anybody else, “Oh, and this kid named Leon Wang.”

“Well, it sounds like you…” Lukas’s voice trailed off, and he fell silent. Emil shot his brother a look, but Lukas was staring off into the distance, an oddly blank look in his eyes. None of them spoke until they arrived at home.

It was always around this time of day that Emil had a snack, so at least school wasn’t interfering with his snacking schedule. Sprinkling brown sugar onto his banana slices, he sat in the living room, eating them from his bowl and watching some stupid old 80’s movie that Matthias kept leaving by accident. Some movie where a couple of friends wanted to find supposed treasure to stop some person from turning their home into a country club or whatever. If he thought hard enough, he could probably remember the name, but he was too lazy to be bothered. 

The doorbell suddenly rang, echoing through the living room.

“Someone’s at the door!” Emil called, though he received no response from his brother. With a slight groan, Emil wheeled himself to the door, bowl still in his lap, and opened the door.

He was met with a familiar face.

“Hey there, Emmy,” Leon grinned, “Like, since you are an uneducated sap, we’re going to read some motherfucking Shakespeare.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk if u can tell but leon is always a slut for shakespeare


	4. Four

Emil stared up in shock at Leon, who was wearing a very oversized blue sweater and carrying what looked like two brand new books. His overly fluffy eyebrows resembled caterpillars in the way they were arching.

“I….Uh…What? Did you follow me home?”

“No, Emmy, I’m not a stalker,” However, there was a devilish grin on his face, “My friend Yong Soo is the school secretary volunteer. He can like, look through any records he wants, and tell me whatever I want, all for the price of a five minute long chest groping.”

“What?!” Emil sputtered, face going pink with the mental image. People in this school did that? Offered their bodies as payment for even petty things--

“Okay, dude, I can see the panic in your eyes, and it’s only, like, just my friend. He’s just really weird,” Leon said, stepping over the threshold, officially inviting himself into the house, “But that’s not important. What’s important is that you read Shakespeare.”

“Excuse me, you are in my house,” Emil said, quickly recovering from his initial shock, “I don’t think I invited you in.”

“You're right, you didn’t,” Leon said in a very serious voice, holding up the books in his hand, “The power of Hamlet did.”

“No, excuse me, you need to get out of my house!” Emil said, his voice rising into a squeak, realizing that he was very small in this wheelchair compared to Leon. Leon gave a sigh, a look of sadness on his face.

“But, like, you’re the new kid….And you never read Shakespeare...And I even bought new ‘modernized’ versions of Hamlet just now! So, like, it wouldn’t kill you to death or anything! With my own money, I bought them!” Leon’s voice suddenly took on an accusatory tone, “I was saving that money for, like, fireworks, you know.”

Emil looked up, staring into the golden-brown eyes of the Asian teen, whose eyebrows were contracting together in a look of sadness, forming what looked like a very hairy rope. His lower lip jutted out. He looked...Unbearable cute.

“Fine,” Emil gave in, knowing full and well his will was very easy to break, “But only for an hour--”

Leon leapt high into the air with a shout of victory, before swooping down, grabbing Emil’s shoulders, and saying,

“I could, like, totally kiss you right now.”

“Please, don’t.”

“No, seriously, I could,” Leon’s eyes suddenly widened, “You look very kissable, Emmy. Have I told you that? Extremely kissable. Ha. That’s weird.”

Leon straightened up, casting a look around the house, where everything was spaced out a bit more than in a normal household, making room for Emil’s wheelchair. Emil barely registered the fact that a boy had been inches from his face and calling him extremely kissable, and asked,

“Why are you so excited?”

“Because, Emmy, my dear friend, Shakespeare is one of my most favorite things in the world, and very rarely do I get to share him with, like someone who has totally never read his works before,” Leon smiled, “Everyone has usually read Romeo and Juliet or something by now--But you’re a Shakespeare virgin!”

“Please don’t call me that,” Emil said, spooning some bananas into his mouth and chewing them as he stared dejectedly down at his toes. He had been trying to get them to wiggle subconsciously, but no matter how hard he thought, no matter how hard he concentrated, they wouldn’t...Move.

“What are you eating?”

“Bananas and brown sugar. It’s really good. Want some?” Emil offered his...Houseguest?.... A bite of his delicious snack. Leon stuck his finger inside the bowl, scooping up a round banana piece and sticking it inside his mouth with a grin.

“That is pretty good, Emmy. Thanks.”

“Emil,” Emil mumbled, feeling extremely awkward and not knowing how to communicating with him.

“But….I thought your name was Emmy?”

“It’s Emil,” Emil said, though this time much louder. Leon looked extremely surprised.

“I could’ve sworn you said Emmy. I was all ready to call you Emmy Award, Emma, EmEm...All my jokes. They were useless now.” Leon’s fist clenched and he said with a dramatic flair, “Curse you, world.”

“Um...Yeah, well, if you’re going to force me to read Shakespeare, can we do it soon?” Emil asked, fighting off the twitch of his lips, refusing to show any signs of amusement. Just act annoyed, maybe the cute Asian dude would leave.

_ Wait fuck did you just call him cute bad Emil no biscuit for you _ , a voice that sounded suspiciously like Lukas’s rang out in his head. 

“Okay, well, do you have any ideal place for us to, like…” Leon flapped his hand around wildly before saying, “Sit down and chill?”

“Yeah, the living r--” Emil stopped abruptly as he heard a familiar thumping down the stairs. Though Lukas was generally calmer than most people, he still practically raged down the stairs, and thank god he did, because Emil had enough time to hiss,

“Hide!”

“What?” Leon looked flabbergasted, eyebrows drawing up in surprise, but Lukas entered the room just as Emil brought his hands up to push Leon from the room. Lukas froze, hair sopping wet and wearing only a pair of navy blue boxers, hairclip and a towel in hand.

Another habit of Lukas that was right now, very embarrassing; if he and Emil were home alone he would wear only his underwear for hours at a time.

Emil covered up his face in embarrassment as the silence carried on. If someone were to walk in, it’d look very weird; a dashing young Asian man with a lollipop sticking out of his mouth, another dashing blond man in a pair of boxers standing there with a towel, and a boy covering his face to hide the fact that it was quickly becoming the color of a ripe strawberry.

Finally, the silence was broken.

“Aye,” Leon said, “Man, I see the good looks is, like, a family thing. You’re Emmy--I mean, Emil’s bro, right?”

Emil peeked out from over the top of his fingers. Lukas was still as stony faced as ever, but he was now blatantly covering his crotch and thighs with the towel.

“Yes, I’m Emil’s big brother,” Lukas’s eyes slid over and met Emil’s, and Emil suddenly found that mysterious crack in the ceiling  _ extremely _ interesting. Leon’s lips quirked around the lollipop stick.

Emil couldn’t help but think it sort of made him look like an asshole.

“So….Boys. What’s going on here?” Emil brought his eyes down once again to meet Lukas’s, and to his shock, found that the corners of his mouth were pulled upwards.

“Shakespeare,” Leon answered, holding up the books in his hand, “Your brother is an uneducated fool.”

“Indeed he is,” Lukas nodded in agreement, and Emil felt utter betrayal.

_ You fuckin traitor. How dare you. I’m going to hide all your butter where you can’t find it _ .

“So, we’re actually going to read it right now,” Leon continued, and Lukas nodded in understanding, and there was no mistaking it now--he had a shit-eating grin on his face.

A sudden spunky tone filled the air, which Emil recognized as Lukas’s ringtone for Matthias.

“ _ Ay yo I’m a loser, I’m a snoozer, I ain’t that good in bed but yet you always in my head-- _ ”

“I’ll leave you two to it,” Lukas said, but before he left, he leaned in close to Leon, whispered something in his ear, and left. Leon turned to face Emil, and his face was a bit white.

“What?” Emil asked, feeling his own face steadily return to it’s normal color.

“Nothing,” Leon said quickly.

* * *

 

Once they actually settled down enough to open up a book, Emil frowned down upon it, not really in the mood for this.

“How come you’ve never read it?” Leon asked curiously as he opened his own, sitting across from Emil on the couch. Emil shrugged one shoulder.

“Never found it interesting. If it were a modern AU, then maybe.”

“A--a what?”

“An AU,” Emil said, looking up to meet Leon’s eyes, “It’s a fandom thing, I have a tumblr blog. It’s like...An alternate universe.”

When Leon still looked confused, Emil sighed and continued explaining.

“Okay, imagine a universe where everything is the same, but, like….We’re all cats.”

Leon stared in awe at Emil, before saying,

“And alternate universes? They can be anything?”

“Yeah,” Emil nodded. Leon spaced out for a moment, eyes wide, before saying in an excited voice,

“An AU in which we’re pirate cowboys…. _ In space _ !”

“What?” Emil sputtered, taken aback. Leon looked absolutely thrilled, a large smile on his face.

“And you have an eyepatch because you got stabbed in the eye and I ride a magnificent horse and, like, we get all the hot--”

“That sounds nice,” Emil interrupted, “But aren’t you here to force me to cry-read Shakespeare in a sex dungeon?”

“What?” Leon blinked.

“I mean, I’d rather cry-read Dr. Seuss books in a sex dungeon, but--”

“What.”

“I was just trying to get your attention.”

“Dude,” Leon’s smirk grew, “You have a sense of humor?”

“As a matter of fact I, I do,” Emil looked over at the clock sitting on the mantel, “And you have exactly twenty two minutes to start reading before I kick you out of the house.”

“You’re no fun,” Leon smiled, taking the lollipop stick out of his mouth at last, “I can tell this is going to be a beautiful friendship, Emil.”

“I don’t think so,” Emil sighed, exasperated.

“Trust me, you’ll  _ love _ me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twenty points to your Hogwarts house of choice if you spy the CinemaSins reference
> 
> Ok Im telling you now that the ENTIRE basis of this story is me drawing hilarious scenarios and then writing something about it.
> 
> That’s it, that’s what this book is, a plot somehow woven into random things with pictures.
> 
> REVIEWS WELCOME
> 
> Also it appears that the same exact note is appearing in every chapter I post, which is frankly annoying, and I apologize.


	5. Five

By the time Leon left, Emil hadn’t read one page of Shakespeare and he wondered if Leon had only shown up to be weird and give Emil his phone number, which was written unattractively on his forearm.

“Call me maybe,” Leon grinned, before closing the door behind himself. Lukas sauntered out of the kitchen, flicking his still wet bangs out of his eyes.

“Who exactly was that?”

“A nightmare plastic wrapped in weirdness,” Emil said, “Well, that's how he described himself, at least. But he also described himself as proof of God’s existence, so we’ll take what he says with a grain of salt.”

“I see,” Lukas said, and Emil knew from his tone of voice that Lukas wasn’t thinking about Leon right now, but about something else. His older brother sat on the couch, tapping his fingers absently on his knees--a nervous habit. Finally, he looked towards Emil, and asked,

“So, did anyone...You know...Give you any crap?”

“What do you mean?” Emil asked, though he knew perfectly well what Lukas was talking about. Wheeling himself so he was directly facing his brother, Emil looked at Lukas expectantly, who looked awkward.

“I mean...You’re the only….You know...Handicapped person there.”

“So?” Emil asked, but the anger within him was already swelling up. He didn’t need--he didn’t want--nobody had bothered him! Lukas had been talking about this for weeks, always saying that if anyone gave Emil any shit for being unable to walk, to tell him or Matthias immediately, and that they’d take care of it, and yada yada yada. Well, Emil didn’t need their help, thank you very much, because he was almost sixteen and he could take care of everything himself, he could handle it.

Emil wheeled away from his brother, parking his wheelchair next to the staircase before shimmying himself out and crawling upstairs.

“Do you need any help?” Lukas’s voice half-heartedly called, but this time Emil knew it was more out of habit than anything. However, that burning pit of anger was still stewing in his stomach and he snapped,

“No, I don’t.”

* * *

Tuesday morning passed by in a blur. Natalia once again escorted him to his classes, but she remained on her phone the entire time, texting rapidly.

“Who are you texting?” Emil asked when he first saw her. She shot him a glare before flickering her gaze back to her screen, answering,

“My friend, Lili Zwingli. This is her second year in America and she’s an eighth grader. Making sure she’s okay.”

Emil raised an eyebrow, a bit afraid of the girl (well, she sort of did punch a student out of her way to get through the crowded doors) but intrigued.

“If she’s still in middle school, how do you know her?”

“Her brother is in my year,” Natalia answered absently, before grabbing the handles of his wheelchair (his stomach squirmed uncomfortably as she did so; Lukas never grabbed the handles of his wheelchair before asking. He wasn’t used to it yet).

First period passed the same. The teacher hilariously misread and mispronounced things (though, frankly, Emil would have willingly listened to this guy’s lesson on the ‘friendzone war’ between Russia and America any day) and Elizabeta had made him a cookie.

“I like having friends,” She said, tucking a strand of hair back into her beanie, “They’re like..Chill, you know? They’re cool. I baked that yesterday with my ma’s recipe.”

Emil thanked her and bit into it, and had to pinch himself to keep himself from gagging--it tasted awful.

Math with Ms. Stargaard was pretty much the same as the day before. Only this time, Emil was a bit more interested in conversing with Leon than he had been the day before.

“So, about yesterday,” Emil said as he lifted himself up on the chair with difficulty, having swatted away the Asian’s attempt at helping, “That was a little more gay and a little less Shakespeare than we intended.”

“I wasn’t, like, _gay,_ ” Leon deadpanned, “What are you talking about? I’m straight, Emil. Straight as a noodle. Straight as a car. Straight as, like, the pole yo mama dances on.”

“My mama is dead,” Emil deadpanned back.

“Exactly. So how can I be as straight as the pole yo mama dances on if she’s dead? Then that means there is, in fact, no pole, and that means that my sexuality might be, in fact, non existent, or invisible,” Leon said, fiddling with the corner of his notebook, a new lollipop stick in his mouth (and Emil knew it was new because it wasn’t as chewed as the one the day before).

“That didn’t make any sense.”

“It made perfect sense to me,” Leon grinned.

“No, it didn’t. I’m sure it made sense to nobody but yourself.” Emil said, absently tapping the forearm Leon had scrawled his number on with his pencil.

“Lord, what fools these mortals be!” Leon said, raising his eyes to the heavens in exasperation, though there was a faint smile on his lips. Emil raised an eyebrow.

“What exactly was that?”

“Only a quote from, like, the best character in _A Midsummer Night’s Dream,_ ” Leon grinned. Emil sighed.

“Let me guess. Shakespeare?”

“I’m always a slut for Shakespeare,” Leon joked, and Emil’s lips quirked up in a smile. So maybe this guy was amusing and nice, if a little weird. He had woken up today with the resolution to make a few friends to rub in Lukas’s face, to show him that he didn’t need any of his help, and the people he had met yesterday seemed like a good place to start.

“Excuse you, sir, but I am the meme king, and I will not let you steal my title,” Emil said, and Leon opened his mouth to retort, but Ms. Stargaard suddenly said,

“While that’s a very fascinating conversation you gentlemen have been having for the past five minutes, we’re ready to start the lesson now, so if you please...Politely shut your traps.”

* * *

 

At lunch, Emil sat next to Sadik and Tai, both older than him but both equally friendly.

“My brother thinks I’m not capable of making any friends,” Emil said as he focused on his lunch, which was perhaps the most disgusting and revolting thing he had ever laid his eyes upon. God, he wished he had his banana and brown sugar snack with him right now. That’d be great. Or maybe licorice. He was always a slut for licorice.

 _Damn Leon for stealing my meme_ , Emil thought absently in the back of his mind.

“Nah, don’t listen to your bro,” Sadik said, swiping the apple off of Emil’s tray and taking a bite out of it, “I know Lukas Bondevik, and if anythin’, he’s the biggest worrier in the entire school. Maybe even more so than that Beilschmidt guy’s brother.”

“Beilschmidt guy?” Emil raised an eyebrow.

“There’s three guys in senior year, pretty notorious for getting in trouble,” Tai explained as he popped the lid off of his soup, which seemed to contain tomatoes, shrimp, and...Caterpillars? Worms? Roly polys? What even _were_ those things? “And this one guy, Gilbert, he’s got a little brother who’s probably the best student in the entire school. All the teachers love him.”

“But he worries a lot,” Sadik said with a shrug, “But your brother worries too.”  
“Yeah, he--” But Emil’s sentence was cut off as a tray slammed down next to his, and Leon popped into the seat next to him, grinning.

“Hey there, Emmy,” He greeted, “I didn’t even notice you were in this lunch period until I, like, nearly crashed into the trashcan.”

“Er--hello,” Emil said awkwardly as Leon’s apple fell victim to Sadik, “I didn’t know you had this lunch period, either.”

“I didn’t know you hung out with Tai,” Leon countered, before grinning at the other Asian teen, “Hey, man.”

“How’s Yao?” Tai asked in a friendly tone.

“Great.”

“Who’s this bum?” Sadik asked Emil, throwing the core of his apple onto Leon’s tray, “Never seen him before.”

“You’re two years ahead of me, of course you’ve never seen me,” Leon crinkled his nose, “But you’re a bit, like, too loud for the people Tai hangs out with.”

“He’s fine,” Tai said quickly, “Really, I don’t mind. I sat here yesterday because I thought Emil would’ve been alone, but Sadik sat next to him, and he’s alright, really.”

“Of course I’m alright, I love makin’ friends,” Sadik grinned, “Though if you ever hear it from Heracles, I’m the biggest dick on the planet.”

“Heracles,” Leon said, eyebrows drawing together. Emil was reminded of a long, thick and furry caterpillar nestling on his forehead. “Where have I heard that name before? He’s, like, that senior who’s always napping everywhere, right? The one who fell asleep in the bathroom?”

“Yeah,” Sadik said, “Bit stupid, if you ask me.”

“Ahahaha,” Tai laughed nervously, and Emil wondered if Tai really thought Sadik was alright, and then Emil was confronted with the thought that Tai was only sitting here because he felt obliged to sit next to the new kid, which didn’t make Emil feel any better.

“What’s with the look on your face?” Leon asked, noticing Emil.

“Nothing,” Emil said sourly, stabbing the pinto bean casserole. It made a funny noise, as if it were dying.

* * *

 

Eliot managed to explode four different test tubes by the end of the period and Emil started wondering if this was the reason why all the surrounding desks were completely empty.

“Do you...Do that on purpose?” Emil asked as Eliot curiously examined a beaker full of clear liquid.

“Do what on purpose?” He asked, sniffing the fumes rising from it. The teacher, an extremely tall woman named Mrs. Cululla whose head brushed the top of the low ceiling, pointed at Eliot and cried,

“Stop! Anderssen, what do you think that is?”

“Something...Uh...Chemical?” Eliot looked bewildered. Emil had a feeling it was mildly explosive.

“Yes, yes indeed, but what do you think it _does_?” Mrs. Cululla was that type of chemistry teacher who had a wild look in her eyes and frizzed hair from all the steam coming from the boiling water. Emil had a feeling these classes weren’t agreeable with the school’s standards, and then he began wondering if anyone ever inspected her classes to make sure they were working on things that were safe.

“I think...It turns yellow,” Eliot wondered, before shooting Emil a look, “Right?”

“No, no I don’t think so,” Emil said blandly, already strapping on his safety goggles. His classmates did the same.

“Why, my dear student, why don’t you test it out? That’s what we are here for! For science! For experimentation!” Mrs. Cululla threw her hands into the hair, which smacked against the ceiling, “For science!”

“Yeah,” Eliot grinned, “Science.”

“Eliot, you should probably put your goggles on,” Emil said absently as he slid all of his stuff underneath the table and out of harm.

“Yeah, probably should.”

Within seconds, a loud _BANG_ filled the room and everyone gave a low and collective sigh as a mildly thick, nearly transparent smoke filled the room.

“Isn’t that poisonous?” One student asked.

“Nonsense, my dear, it’s perfectly safe,” Mrs. Cululla’s hair seemed even more frazzled than before, but it seemed like she didn’t mind that very much.

* * *

 

Final period literature class went as expected. The elderly woman hobbled between the desks, handing out paperbacks that were tattered with age.

“So, Emil, I was thinking...Could I swing by later?” Leon asked, flipping through his book with mild interest, “ _Old Yeller_. Huh. Think I’ve seen the movie.”

“There’s a movie?”

“I think. I dunno.”

The elderly woman was either deaf or didn’t mind all the talking everyone was doing. She was draped in what looked like velvet curtains, but was probably just a really overlarge and really old fancy dress. Maybe. Might even be a bathrobe. Who knows.

“So, like I was saying, could I swing by later?” Leon asked once again, gaining Emil’s attention, which wasn’t too difficult, seeing as he was playing tic-tac-toe by himself. Emil’s elbows dug into the desk, and he tapped his pencil against his paper.

“Well...I still don’t really know you that much,” Emil said lamely, “But yeah, if you want. I gotta prove to Lukas I’ve got friends.”

“You got tons of friends,” Leon said, rolling the lollipop stick between his fingers, “Me and Tai and that loud dude at lunch and like, a whole buncha others, I expect.”

“No, not really a whole buncha others,” Emil muttered, “I have a hard time talking to people.”

Leon looked mildly surprised. He stuck the stick back in his mouth before cocking his head to the side.

“Really? But, you talk totally fine to me. You’re even somewhat friendly.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Maybe you just gotta get used to it,” Leon shrugged, “When I moved to America, I wasn’t too chatty either, but here I am now.”

“Quoting Shakespeare, chewing on sticks. Making friends with losers,” Emil muttered, winning for the ninth time in his one-man tic-tac-toe game, “You’re doing splendid.”

“Indeed I am,” Leon grinned, before whacking Emil lightly on the side of his head, “And I’m definitely coming over for some Shakespeare today.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fifty points to the Hogwarts House of your choice if you can guess the character who uttered that fabulous quote.
> 
> Here is a chapter, m'laddies.
> 
> NEXT CHAPTER:: underage drinking, a slight Hamlet remake, and more au-pondering.


	6. Six

Emil didn't know how to react when Leon showed up to his door with half a bottle of wine and a devious grin upon his face. His brother had just left for band practice, and now he was home alone (sadly, they were out of bananas, so no after-school snacks for him). He had been expecting Leon to show up any moment, so he had casually made sure the living room was comfortable enough, when there was a knock on his door.

He had barely opened it when Leon burst in, wine in hand and that smirk on his face.

"Hello, Emmy. Time for Shakespeare!"

"Is that--is that _wine_?" Emil sputtered, staring in shock at the bottle in Leon's hands. Leon continued smirking as he barrelled into Emil's kitchen, rattling through the cupboards before finding two glasses, and setting them down on the counter.

"Leon," Emil wheeled himself into the room, cursing the fact that yes, while standing, he would probably be taller, but was currently almost a foot shorter than Leon in the damned wheelchair, "Leon, is that wine?"

Leon's smirk only grew.

"Leon no."

"Leon, yes."

Emil hoped that his face looked as scandalized as he felt, because wasn't that _illegal_? They were five years under the drinking age! Where had Leon even obtained the bottle?!

Leon shoved the glass into Emil's hand, and it was clear like water, and for a moment, Emil could almost believe it was water. Until, Leon drank his entire glass in two gulps and gave a satisfying burp.

"Wine."

"That's disgusting." Emil slammed the glass angrily on the counter, fuming. He was already on short temper today, and then this fuckery happens. The meme lord was not happy, he was not, for his fucking brother was trying to make him do homework when he'd rather be watching Jackscepticeye or something, and now this weird Asian douchewaffle was in his house with a bottle of alcohol!

"Oh, just take a sip," Leon waved his hand airily, "It's just fine, trust me."

"The thing is, I don't," Emil slid the glass to Leon. Leon grinned, before sliding it back to Emil as he said,

"There's no more faith in thee than in a stewed prune."

"What is that, another _Midsummer_ quote?" Emil shot back, going to slide the glass back, like in a weird game of hockey, but Leon slammed his hand down in front of the glass, preventing it from sliding forward.

"No, _Henry V_ ," Leon quipped, "And really, just, like, take a sip already. I'll stop bugging you if you do. I'll even totally leave."

Emil glared at Leon before adjusting himself in his wheelchair, arm pressing on the rest of the chair, balancing himself as he slid the drink far away from him.

"No," He said slowly, looking Leon in the eye, "It's illegal."

"You're no fun," Leon cocked his head to the side, "Please? For me? Or I'll be forced to act out Hamlet."

"No," Emil spat. Leon gave a shrug, before smiling and pressing his hands onto the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head. Emil gave a gasp as Leon stripped down to his boxers, with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

"What are you--"

"Emmy, there's nothing funnier than reciting Hamlet in your underwear," Leon assured him, though Emil didn't feel very assured, "See, watch."

Leon took a breath, before holding himself up high and mighty, chest puffed, and speaking in a low voice,   
"Let the doors be shut upon him, that he may play the fool no where but in 's own house. Farewell."

Leon swept an imaginary cape behind him, before dramatically leaning against the counter in a very feminine fashion, sticking his leg out and squealing in the highest-pitched voice he could possibly manage--  
"O, help him, you sweet heavens!"

Leon drew himself up again, chest puffing out, and despite himself, Emil had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. The Asian teen looked ridiculous.

"If thou dost marry, I'll give thee this plague for thy dowry. Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny--" Leon paused dramatically, a hand on his chest, and it was at this that Emil took the opportunity to stop him.

"Wow, very awe-inspiring, I literally understood none of that, and you need to take your bottle of wine and leave." Emil pointed at the door, trying to make his face appear as threatening as possible. However, it seemed that he only looked ridiculous, because Leon broke into laughter, losing his composure as the high and mighty...King? Thing? Emil didn't even know what he was.

"Emil, I'll only leave if you can guess what that was. If you don't, you gotta take a sip of the--" Leon snickered, before sliding the wine glass to Emil, "--of the wine. Do it, Emil. Like, prove to me how really smart you are. _Five year olds_ should know this."

Emil glared at Leon before leaning back in his wheelchair, glaring at the ceiling. God damn it. He didn't really want to--but--if it made Leon take his bottle of _illegal alcohol_ , and leave, he might as well.

Considering the mini-act Leon had put on for him, Emil tried to guess what he could be reciting. It sounded to be between two lovers, or something, but it could possibly be a mother-son combo as well. What could it be? It was probably the two lovers...And what Shakespeare play centered around two lovers? Even Emil knew this!

" _Romeo and Juliet,_ " Emil said confidentially, but his confidence quickly vanished as Leon burst into laughter. And not just ordinary laughter--no, he gripped the counter, pressing his hand to his chest, before sliding to the floor, still laughing. Eventually he began wheezing, and choked, before bursting into even more laughter.

"You done?" Emil asked after about two minutes of this, Leon continuously laughing, stopping, and laughing again.

" _No,_ " Leon gasped, clawing at the air, and then he stopped laughing completely, and instead just started clapping his hands like a retarded seal, his 'cool guy' composure lost minutes ago and giving way to this laughing, choking mess. Seeing Leon writhing on the floor, chest silently shaking and clapping his hands, made Emil himself give a short burst of laughter that was quickly lost when Leon pulled himself to his feet and slid the glass of wine closer to him.

"We had--a--deal," Leon gasped out, a grin so wide on his face Emil was surprised that his skin wasn't splitting from it, "One sip---one sip, E-Emmy--Romeo and--"

Apparently, he was unable to speak, because he just slapped the counter repeatedly, still laughing.

Sourly, Emil grabbed the glass and downed a sip of it, planning to slam it angrily on the counter and shout at Leon to leave, but to his utmost shock, he spit the drink out, eyes wide.

"It's just--it's just water--"

For a moment Emil was concerned that Leon was dying, because it seemed like he wasn't even _breathing_ , and at this point Emil was getting so pissed off at the entire situation he nearly threw the glass at his face.

"Put your goddamn clothes on!" Emil shouted at Leon, very, very mad. This fucking--

"I'm sorry," Leon laughed, pulling himself up once again, "I just--you---oh my god."

He seemed to finally be calming down, and Emil crossed his arms, and Leon fell into a slightly shameful silence, as if actually ashamed of everything he had done.

Leon put on his clothes, still chuckling now and then, but always shutting up when Emil shot him a nasty look, before sitting on the couch, balancing the Hamlet books on his knee.

"We're still going to read that?" Emil asked, exasperated, and Leon nodded. Emil rolled himself into the spot next to Leon, cocking his head to the side, eyeing the cover. His anger had ebbed away a bit.

"Why are you so obsessed with Shakespeare in the first place?"

"Oh, it's a long story," Leon said with a shrug, "But, like, long story short, when I moved to Britain when I was seven, my English _sucked_. I lived next door to a drama major, and she always gave me these Shakespeare books and told me they'd help me improve. They didn't seem to, not really, and I just, like, spent most of my time with a Cantonese-to-English dictionary wondering what the _fuck_ half the words were."

"So...Some random girl gave you Shakespeare books and that's why you were obsessed with it?"

"Well, no," Leon said, giving one of the Hamlet books to Emil, "I actually became really interested in the plots, and I kept reading them all, and it did help my English a lot. I even went and saw the play she did, Othello. She was Emilia."

"Sounds important," Emil said, "Of course, I'm only saying this because it sounds like _my_ name."

Leon laughed, before saying, "Yeah, well, Shakespeare did help my English a lot, and it even made me read even more. Which did help. A lot. Reading helps."

"When did you move to America?" Emil asked, casually sliding the Hamlet book back into Leon's lap, having no real intention of reading it.

"When I was eleven," Leon grinned, "That's why my accent's kind of wonky, surely you've noticed?"

"To be honest it sounds like you've lived in China most of your life, but now you've got a bit of an American accent, and now it sounds like you're attempting to imitate a really shitty British one," Emil said bluntly.

"Wow. That almost hurt."

"I try."

The two sat in a slightly awkward silence, before Emil asked,

"Did you keep in contact with that drama major girl?"

"She died," Leon said, sliding the Hamlet book back into Emil's lap, "When I was ten."

Emil didn't know how to respond to that, so he didn't. Leon leaned against the couch, seemingly deep in thought, before asking,

"So...What if there was a Hamlet AU, where it's modern day, but they're all reversed genders?"

" _Why._ " Emil's nose crinkled, "I like modern AU's, and genderbend ones, but together, and a Shakespeare play of all things? Why?"

"What if Macbeth was about cats?" Leon cocked his head to the side, "Catbeth. Lady Catbeth. Duncat. Meowcam."

"Those are the shittiest names I've ever heard."

"Indeed, Emmy, indeed." Leon flipped open the Hamlet book, suddenly all business, "It's now time to read."

"No," Emil said, glancing at the clock. Holy cow, it was almost six!

"Why not?" Leon pouted, "I've, like, been waiting all day for this!"

"Too bad," Emil said, shoving the book back into Leon's hands, "My brother will be home any--"

The door opened, and Lukas entered, looking angry and wet.

Apparently, practice had been very bad.

"You should go," Emil said, and Lukas nodded in agreement, face souring. Leon glanced between the two, before nodding himself.

"I should."

After ushering Leon out of the house, books in hand, Emil went to close the door, but Leon stuck his foot between it and the doorframe.

"Hey, Emmy, come over to my house tomorrow," Leon said, grinning, "We're going to get you to read Shakespeare one way or another."

"How about no?" Emil said, trying to force the door shut on Leon's foot, but he pressed himself closer.

"Fine, just come over for some totally awesome fun, okay? Your house is boring."

"Thanks a lot," Emil snapped, before nodding, "I'll come, just leave, okay?"

Leon smiled, before slipping out.

Yeah, as if Emil would willingly come on his--

"Why the _fuck_ is there _wine_ in the _goddamn_ kitchen?!"

Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should really just change the title to something Shakespeare related shouldn't I
> 
> REVIEWS APPRECIATED, AS THEY ARE LOVED, CHERISHED, AND A GREAT INSPIRATION TO GET OFF MY LAZY ASS AND WRITE.


	7. Seven

School the next day passed by in a blur (thankfully, Eliot didn’t explode anything and Mr. Barnes let them play Twister in class and Emil got to spin the wheel thing) so by the time English class rolled around, as far as Emil was concerned, his brain was still stuck somewhere back in third period and his wheelchair had carried his body away from this life.

“Hello, Emmy,” Leon told Emil with a grin, “Sorry about stripping in your kitchen yesterday. Like, bit of an impulse. I practice better when I’m, like, in my underpants. It’s more relaxing. And less gross when I get totally sweaty.”

“Yeah, about that,” Emil said as he dragged the chair out from the desk place and parked his wheelchair in the spot instead. He didn’t care if his chin almost brushed the desk, he didn’t feel like climbing into the chair today, “You left your bottle at my house and I almost got grounded for until I was twenty.”

“For until you was twenty?”

“For until I was twenty.”

Leon snickered, and at that precise moment the bell rang, and the stooping old teacher closed the door and hobbled to her desk. The velvety bathrobe/dress/curtain was back, but this time she also wore it accented with many, many bangles and rings. Emil was reminded forcefully of the ‘fortune teller’ who used to live next door.

“Alright,” She said, in a croaking old voice, “I’m supposed to be giving you all a quiz on Old Yeller. But seeing as we’ve barely started reading it, I don’t feel like doing so. So if any of you can identify this quote, we’ll skip the test and save it for next week.”

“It’s probably going to be Shakespeare,” Emil predicted, glancing at Leon, “Old people have a thing for Shakespeare.”

“Ha. Ha. Shut up.”

“ _Conscience is but a word that cowards use, devised at first to keep the strong in awe,_ ” The old woman said dramatically, and Leon gave a scoff.

“Come on, that’s too easy,” Leon said, and he actually looked offended, “King Richard III!”

Emil rolled his eyes and straightened up a little more so he could see better. Maybe he should have climbed into the chair anyways. It was a much better alternative than straining his neck. Damn.

The teacher didn’t assign them the quiz or any books this period (Emil was beginning to think that the teachers in this school didn’t really give a fuck about education) so Emil resorted to talking to Leon. He was getting better at this whole ‘socializing’ thing, considering he’d only ever had, like, three friends before, and they were all older than him and only his friend because they were Lukas’s.

“So...Where do you live?” Emil asked, pressing his face against the desk.

“I’ll drive you to my place,” Leon offered, “Well, actually, Yong Soo will, because he’s, like, three months older than me, but we’ll drive you.”

“Remind me why I’m doing this again?”

“Because I’m irresistible. Plus, you have no other friends.”

“Excuse you, I have seven.”

“Really? Name them all.”

“Sadik, Tai, Elizabeta, Berwald, Tino, Matthias, Natalia.” Emil counted on his fingers, “Well, I guess I have eight, because of you.”

Leon gave Emil a grin that Emil had come to associate with ‘oh, poor, poor Emmy.’

“Anyways, I will ask Yong Soo to drive you,” He said, twirling the straw in his hand before sticking it into his mouth. Thankfully, it wasn’t his pencil, because Emil witness Leon chew up his pencil entirely during math, “You should probably tell your brother, too.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine with it,” Emil said, mentally recalling the conversation he had with Lukas this morning, which went something like this;

L: So, that Leon kid invited you over?

E: Yeah.

L: Good.

E: What?

L: I mean--I love you, bro.

E: Uh…’Kay.

L: Also, please don’t come home until six.

E:...Why?

L: I’ll be busy.

E:....Okay?

L: Much thank. Very appreciate.

E: Fuck off my memes.

Perhaps it hadn’t entirely gone like that, but Emil did have a terrible memory (it wasn’t terrible, it was a _selective memory,_ he always told people) and as far as he was concerned, Lukas didn’t want him home until after six.

The final period of the day drew to an end, and Emil found himself being pushed by Leon out the door.

Which, he did not appreciate.

“Could you not?” Emil snapped, swatting Leon’s hands away, and Leon held them up in surrender, “I can push myself.”

“Never said you couldn’t, Emmy.”

Emil was beginning to wonder if Leon was even more socially awkward than him. Which would probably explain the constant pestering and strange obsession with Shakespeare. Still, though, Emil thought back to any other time he’d seen Leon. The very first day he’d been here, Leon was sitting alone in math class, and again in English class. He’d sought Emil out in his lunch period, despite the fact that Emil might be in a completely different one, and he sat with Emil, even though Emil was sitting with two other people he didn’t know. He came over to Emil’s house two days in a row, and he offered Emil to come over to his house today.

Didn’t Leon have any other friends?

 _This Yong Soo person sounds like a friend,_ Emil thought to himself, but being so caught up in his thoughts, he accidentally slammed into someone.

“Sorry,” Emil said, and wheeled himself out of the way. His elbows were beginning to hurt, but he ignored the pain as Leon led them outside.

Leaning against a large blue truck was a tall boy with brown hair and eyes, grinning mischievously and tapping the truck’s keys against the roof of the truck.

“Please don’t tell me that’s Yong Soo,” Emil murmured, not liking the bright, dangerous look in the boy’s eyes.

“That’s Yong Soo.”

“I just told you to _not tell me that’s Yong Soo_.”

“Welp, it is,” Leon smiled before jogging the rest of the way to the car, which was about five feet and Emil caught up with him in no time. What even.

“Annyeong!” The brown-haired boy said cheerfully, which Emil took to be some kind of greeting. Though the boy was taller than Leon, Emil guessed that if he were standing, he’d probably be taller than him. Or about the same height.

“This is Emil,” Leon pointed at Emil, prodding his cheek with his index finger, “He needs a ride.”

“A ride I can give,” The boy said, before winking, “There’s another type of ride I can give, too.”

“No, Yong Soo, we’re not going to ride your golf cart.”

“Damn! Well, it was worth a try, da-ze.”

Having no idea what ‘da-ze’ meat or why he owned a golf cart, Emil found himself in the dilemma of where he should put his wheelchair. Before he could ask, Yong Soo bent down, hooked his arms around Emil’s waist, and, with surprising strength, lifted Emil into the backseat of the truck, while Leon picked up Emil’s wheelchair with a grunt and set it down in the back.

“If it flies out, I’m sueing,” Emil warned both Asians.

“Don’t worry, my friend,” Yong Soo grinned as he fished around in his pockets, before extracting a lollipop and handing it to Emil, “I’m a good driver, I promise.”

“He is,” Leon nodded, “Yao crashed the car once, and Mei and I don’t have a license.”

“Who are Mei and Yao?” Emil questioned as the boys got into the front seat, and Yong Soo started the car.

“My brother and sister,” Leon told Emil, glancing into the rearview mirror, “Yong Soo’s my cousin.”

“Once-removed.”

“Yeah, once-removed.”

The car ride was very short, about two minutes, and while he did make two dangerous swerves and cut off three cars in the middle of the road, Yong Soo’s diving was decent. At least, compared to Matthias’s. Emil still had nightmares about that.

Leon’s house was modern and fairly large, with a neat lawn. However, one of the front windows had a large hole smashed through it, with a lot of duct tape covering it up. Emil wondered how that happened and why they only used duct tape for it. Superglue works too.

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Leon drawled as he stepped out of the truck, and flinged Emil’s door open. Emil unwrapped the lollipop and stuck it in his mouth as he was picked up and set down in his wheelchair. Never before did Emil think he’d be loaded into his own wheelchair by two Asian boys as he prepared himself for Shakespeare, but here we are.

“Some warning--Yao doesn’t speak very good English and Mei is insane.” Leon said, before turning away and walking up to the front door. Yong Soo helped push Emil up the way to the front door, which was probably going to be one of the only times Emil accepted help, since the yard slanted downwards and wheeling himself up would be a struggle.

“Thanks, by the way,” Yong Soo suddenly said to Emil as Leon pushed the door open and stepped inside, calling out,

“Jiā!”

Another voice called back, speaking rapidly in what Emil assumed was Chinese.

“Thanks for what?” Emil asked, glancing up at the Asian. He had dull eyes and a shiny hair color, which looked very different to Leon’s bright eyes and dull hair. Maybe they did it on purpose.

“Being Leon’s friend,” Yong Soo leaned down so he was closer to Emil’s ear and whispered, “But I’m still going to annoy him. If you mention this, Imma claim your breasts. ‘Kay?”

“Uh...Okay…?” Emil stuttered, and Yong Soo beamed as he let go of Emil’s wheelchair. A little shaken, Emil followed Leon farther into the house, where they approached a brightly decorated living room. Two people sat on the couch--an older man and a younger girl. The man looked strange--though he had a youthful face, it was obvious he was the oldest in the room. He may have been either in his late twenties or early thirties, though was strangely petite. The girl had thick, pretty brown hair and an earnest expression.

“Hello!” She said, grinning at Emil, “I’m Mei.”

“Hello Mei.” Emil said back, and she grinned once again before turning to Leon.

“You left your phone here.”

“I knew I, like, totally forgot something,” Leon groaned, “The familiar warmth of my cellular device was not felt today.”

“Oh, stop being so such a drama king.”

“Why you bring boy over?” The older man suddenly asked, gesturing to Emil. He vaguely reminded Emil of that time he and Lukas went to an outdoor market for fun and many Chinese merchants had been trying to sell ‘good luck cats.’

“Because, we’re going to study,” Leon said, and the older man looked satisfied with this answer, because he said,

“I will make snacks.”

He hurried off, and Mei followed. Yong Soo gave the two of them a grin before turning away and stomping upstairs.

“They seemed nice,” Emil murmured. He rested his head against on his palm, suddenly feeling woozy. He hadn’t been feeling so great today, but hadn’t mentioned this to anybody else. He didn’t want them to be worried.

“They’re only nice when they want to be,” Leon said darkly, before flinging himself onto the couch, extracting two books from the inside pocket of his jacket, “Ugh, today was so long. At least Mr. Barnes’s class is fun.”

“I have Mr. Barnes,” Emil said as he rolled a little closer towards Leon, looking the Asian in the face, “I’m Email Styles-san.”

“I’m Long Wank.”

There was a very long silence.

Then, Emil burst into laughter, despite his best efforts to keep it in. Leon raised an eyebrow, unamused, before asking,

“What do you even do in your classes? We played Monopoly today.”

Emil thought back to this morning, where Elizabeta practically turned her body into a pretzel as she dominated everybody else in Twister. It got violent very, very fast.

“Nothing. We did nothing,” Emil said, trying not think of this morning.

“Well, then, Emmy, we’ve got reading to do,” Leon said, before stretching out on the couch. Emil scanned the room, feeling out of place. He realized he didn’t know Leon that well, and the kid had strange affinity for classical literature, so how did he end up here in the first place?

The room was decorated brightly, but Leon stood out in his darker clothing. Accepting the book being handed to him, Emil flipped it open and pretended to be reading it as Leon read out loud the first few pages in a dramatic voice, doing voices for each character.

After about five minutes, Emil was half-asleep.

“This is boring, can’t we do something else? Like, not Shakespeare related,” He grumbled, throwing the book at Leon’s face. He caught it in his hand and smirked, before sitting up right and gazing at Emil.

“Emmy, if we’re going to be honest, I love Shakespeare, but I’m not as, like, obsessed with him as you think I am. I’m just trying to prove to Yao I can totally have opposing interests.”

Emil raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

“Well, while I do like Shakespeare and old movies, I also like video games, rap music, and blowing things up.” Leon said with a shrug, setting the books down on the table beside him.

“Okay, but trying to force Shakespeare upon me isn’t going to do anything,” said Emil, who was seriously getting tired of all this. He really didn’t like Shakespeare, and he knew next to nothing about Leon.

“Yeah, I know, Emil,” Leon gave him a cheeky grin around the stick in his mouth, “I was just, like, luring you here under the pretense of Shakespeare. We’re actually totally going to play Mario Kart.”

“Seriously, though, I really do hope Shakespeare isn’t ninety percent of your personality,” Emil said as Leon stood up, brushing imaginary dust off of his pants.

“No, it’s more like…” Leon paused, thinking, before saying, “Seventy percent.”

Yao suddenly entered the living room with a plate of noodles, looking happy. He marched over to Emil before saying,

“Eat. It good for you.”

“Uh…” Emil looked at the noodles carefully. They seemed to be drowning in a mysterious brown sauce.

“Here, have food,” Yao placed the plate in his lap, before glaring at Leon, “Why you no study?”

“Relax, man, we’re going to,” Leon said easily, “I yes study. Study. Okay?”

Yao gave him a suspicious glare before leaving the room again, mumbling something in Chinese.

“How come his English isn’t as good as everyone else’s?” Emil asked as he examined the noodles suspiciously. They seemed relatively...Okay. Probably not poisonous. At least there weren’t any suspicious items in it, like Tai’s noodles.

“Well, he didn’t make as much of an effort as we did.” Leon said with a shrug, “In his words, ‘I will not speak like the white people speak. It stupid.’”

“I guess I can respect that…?” Emil said, picking up the chopsticks that had been set on the side of the plate for him, “I mean, I’m from Iceland, so.”

“Oh, so that’s what your accent is,” Leon said, frowning, “I thought it was, like...Czech or something.”

Emil stared at him. As far as he was concerned, an Icelandic accent sounded nothing like a Czech one.

“Anyways, Emil, let’s pretend to study for another few minutes before I totally dominate your ass at Mario Kart,” Leon said, kicking back and closing his eyes.

“Or, we could actually study,” Emil said as he rolled himself closer to the couch. Leaning forward, he dug his elbows into the cushions, and tried pulling his body upwards. He barely succeeded, and grasped onto Leon tightly as he tried to sit up.

“Why?” Leon scowled, helping Emil sit up right, “Why would we even consider studying right now? I’m bored.”

“But we have a math test on Monday,” Emil reminded him, “And studying helps.”

“No it doesn’t.”

“STUDY!” Shouted Yao’s voice.

“ _ALRIGHT, I’M STUDYING_!”

* * *

After about an hour of ‘studying’ (which mostly involved Emil giving up and playing many games of tic-tac-toe with Leon) Emil checked the clock that sat on top of the TV before looking at Leon.

“Do you want to play a game?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Leon leaped off the couch, “What do you want to play?”

“Mario Kart,” Emil said confidently, “I’ll kick your ass.”

Leon smiled at him before leaping over the coffee table and stomping upstairs. Emil leaned against the couch’s armrest, admiring how soft it was. Leon’s family must be rich or something, because everything here was really nice.

“You done studying?” A voice asked, and Emil looked up to see Yao standing there, thankfully without any noodles this time. Emil nodded, and the tall man sank down next to Emil on the couch, looking please.

“I am glad that you be Leon’s friend,” He said, smiling at Emil, “He need one.”

“Does he, now?” Emil asked, raising an eyebrow. He’d already come to this conclusion, but he didn’t have any time to feel sorry for Leon. In fact, he didn’t, because judging by Leon’s personality, he probably wouldn’t be one to easily accept pity.

“He does,” Yao frowned, “He also need a life. Give him a life, please.”

Emil didn’t know whether to laugh or not. “Alright, sure.”

“Good. I make pizza. Remember--Study. Study gives you good grades. Good grades give you good life. Everybody need good life,” Yao stood up, fiddling with the end of his ponytail, “Pizza.”

Leon came thundering back downstairs with Mario Kart in his hands, Yong Soo following closely behind. When he saw Emil grinning, he stopped.

“What?”

“Nothing. Your brother just gives really good advice,” Emil said. Yong Soo and Leon glanced at each other before shrugging. Handing out the Mario Kart controllers, Leon bent down and turned the TV on, before straightening up and saying,

“I’m hungry.”

“Yao is making pizzas,” Emil said as Yong Soo plopped down on the couch excitedly, eyes bright. At that precise moment, a loud crash came from the kitchen, followed by an angry,

“FUCK ME IN THE NOODLE!”

“That would be Yao,” Leon mumbled, “I’ll go check on him.”

“Don’t take too long, da-ze, I’d prefer to kick Emil’s ass with you around,” Yong Soo grinned at Leon.

“Eat my dust,” Emil said, already going into competitive mode.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have no idea where i'm taking this story


End file.
